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Yes. It most certainly would. And he would do whatever he needed to make Rose his wife.
Rose lay on her bed. She never rested during the day, normally hated when she was forced to do so, but today, it felt divine.
Her head swirled with all that she’d learned.
Will was a spy who had always been working as a force of good rather than as a criminal. Her heart had known that long before her mind had caught up.
And he wanted to marry her. Did she want to marry at all? Did she want to marry him? The answer to both questions was yes. She wanted to because it was him. After Dudley, she thought never to marry again.
But with Will, everything was more. Her depth of emotion, his level of understanding. She’d be a fool to let him get away.
She sat up, got out of bed, and crossed the room to look out in the garden. She knew the men were assembling for the hunt and she was glad for an excuse to stay in. The women would either picnic as they watched or do feminine activities within the house, neither of which she could stand in this moment. She’d rather be restless alone.
A soft knock sounded at the door. “Who is it?” she called as she crossed the bedroom into the sitting area.
“Tricia,” the other woman called from behind the door.
Rose pulled on the latch and swung the door open. The duchess stood in the hall.
“Hello,” Rose tried to give the woman an easy smile.
“Good morning. May I come in?” Tricia asked.
“Of course.” Rose swept her hand into the room as a gesture of welcome.
“I heard that you had a dizzy spell this morning? Are you feeling recovered?” Tricia turned as she made it into the center of the room and her gaze was so sympathetic that Rose instantly relaxed.
“Much better, thank you.” Rose closed the door as she gestured to a settee by the window. “Would you care to sit?”
“Thank you.” Tricia took a seat.
Rose sat across from her. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“Ryker mentioned to me that Lord Addington proposed.” Tricia took a breath and looked at the ceiling as though it held some fascinating piece of information. “At the risk of being meddlesome, he also said you may have fainted because of it and you did not answer. I thought perhaps, you could use someone to talk to.”
Rose stared at the other woman, uncertain to what to say. It wasn’t that she wasn’t considering it. She’d like to confide in someone. And though the duchess had a warmth about her, it seemed unwise. “That’s most kind, but really I am fine.”
Tricia leaned forward. “I met my husband when I snuck out of my house in the middle of the night to search for my cousin in the docklands.”
“I beg your pardon?” Rose choked on the words a little.
Tricia scooted a little further out on her seat. “You can tell me all of it. I won’t judge.”
There was such kindness in her eyes that before Rose knew it, she found herself sharing her story with the other woman. As Tricia nodded, she told her about how she’d thought him a thief but how her heart had always thought differently.
Tricia nodded. “I understand. And his work as a spy must have left clues that would make it seem he was actually the thief.”
Rose gasped. “You know he’s a spy?”
Tricia nodded. “Prinny told Ryker and he mentioned it to me.” She waved her hand. “Ryker also had me tell Lady Bridgeton about the safe so that she might suggest to her husband to lock the jewels away.”
Blinking, Rose attempted to clear her shock. Tricia had been helping to get her diamonds back? “I didn’t know that you were involved.”
Tricia shook her head. “I’m not really. But tell me, why haven’t you answered him?”
Rose shrugged her shoulder up and down. “I don’t know. At first I thought him a thief and now, everything has grown so muddled. Where does rumor end and the real man begin?”
Tricia tsked. “I think you know.” She reached over and grabbed her hand. “Search your heart and it will answer.
